Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops gives major props to South Carolina fans

South Carolina and Kentucky will play on Saturday in Columbia. The 2-2 Gamecocks and 2-1 Wildcats will play under the lights at Williams-Brice Stadium, and UK head coach Mark Stoops knows the environment will be one of his team’s toughest tests of the year.

Speaking to the media this week, Stoops said, “Going on the road in the SEC is difficult. We know playing at South Carolina, Williams-Brice, that place is incredible. What a great atmosphere. It’s always a real challenge.”

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Adding to the difficulty of playing in Columbia, Kentucky will be starting a freshman at quarterback. Cutter Boley will be making his first SEC start on the road in this one.

To get his quarterback and his team ready for what Stoops called a “hostile environment,” he has tried to make Kentucky practices sound like Williams-Brice Stadium. Rooster crows, crowd noise, and “Sandstorm” have blasted through speakers this week.

Because of the atmosphere, Stoops plans to put his young QB in situations where noise won’t matter as much. “We have to really work it this week with the silent count,” he said.

Stoops also gave individual kudos to USC quarterback LaNorris Sellers and EDGE Dylan Stewart.

Speaking about Sellers, he said, “It’s easy to see that the offense runs through LaNorris. He’s just a dynamic player, just an extremely talented player.” He added, “When you watch him in the pocket with a clean pocket, and then you see him throw the football…very impressive. We all know what he can do on his feet.”

When asked about Stewart–who dominated Kentucky in 2024–the long-time head coach argued, “You always have to be very aware where he’s at and have a plan, but you can’t do that on every snap. There’s going to be one-on-one matchups, and we have to hold our own.” Later, when addressing the Gamecocks’ win in 2024, he said, “They had some guys that wrecked it; pressure was a big thing.”

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Stoops has coached in Columbia on six occasions, leading the ‘Cats to three victories. However, South Carolina has gotten the better of his teams of late, winning three in a row overall in the series and two of the last three contests in Columbia.

As it so often does, Williams-Brice Stadium will hold a capacity crowd this weekend. The University of South Carolina announced a sellout earlier this week.

This Saturday’s SEC showdown between South Carolina and Kentucky will begin at 7:45 p.m. SEC Network will handle the broadcast, while the ESPN app makes it available via streaming.

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